Brown freshman gets accepted with essays about video games

Next time your parents lecture you about spending too much time in front of screens, tell them the heroic story of Griffin Beels.

Griffin, an incoming freshman from Barnstable, MA, pulled off a gamble that would make your guidance counselor's heart skip a beat. He centered his application around his most important extracurricular activity — gaming.

Speaking to The Tab, Griffin said: "Gaming to me is the most important extra curricular. It offers a venue for competition and constant learning that is not comparable to anything I've ever done.

"You have to be able to work with new people constantly to be able to co-operate and compete at a high level. You're playing it for 'fun' but you're constantly learning and competing at the same time."

Griffin isn't your average weekend gamer, so think twice before recommending a high schooler take the same gamble. On League of Legends, an online multiplayer game, he ranks in the top .5 percent of all players on the North American server and plays Super Smash Bros competitively according to a post on Reddit.

Griffin also streams footage of his gameplay, fostering positive change by raising money for charity in the process:

"Through my time on Twitch, I've streamed for charity – putting in links to organizations. During the events that I've held, I've had hundreds of people watching and able to donate to the Boston Children's Hospital or this place called Gosnold on Cape Cod, which helps with heroin addiction.

"What's brilliant is that these people don't necessarily live in Boston or Cape Cod, but they see a good cause and they're able to learn about it through the internet and promptly be able to assist."

When asked if he thought his approach was a bit of gamble, Griffin admitted that his perspective might not have been understood by admissions officers, but added:

"I figured this is who I am and this is that passion that I really do love. Most of these people are not trying to deny you but find a reason to accept you. With that in mind, I put it down and expressed why I'm passionate for it and that's pretty much it. I just went for it."

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